UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A half dozen standout entries from Penn State students were announced as Region 1 Mark of Excellence winners in a competition conducted by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) to determine the best in collegiate journalism.
Penn State’s winners were:
- Best All-Around Television Newscast: “Centre County Report in Kazakhstan”
- Television Feature Reporting: “The man behind the mural” (Cailey Thalman)
- Television Sports Reporting: “Turning Point: Nittany Lions deal with coaching change, game week challenges” (Cailey Thalman)
- Personality Profile Writing: “The Yodeling Cowboy who still races sprint cars past 90” (Alexandra Wenskoski)
- Sports Writing: “Time Out” (Greg Finberg)
- Feature Photography: “Water Buckets” (Alex Antoniono)
SPJ Region includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania (Central/Eastern), Rhode Island and Vermont. First-place winners will compete at the national level among other winners from the 12 SPJ regions.
The Mark of Excellence entries are judged by professionals with at least three years of journalism experience. Judges were directed to choose entries they felt were among the best in student journalism.
School divisions are based on student enrollment, including both graduate and undergraduate. Penn State competes in the large school division (at least 10,000 students).